Fresh from victory over Inter Milan in the Champions League clash in midweek, Tottenham Hotspur will be looking to take more bragging rights this Sunday as we make the short trip to the Emirates Stadium to face Arsenal.

With only one defeat in the last five Premier League games (four wins) we go into this tie incredibly high in confidence having put Inter and prior to that, Chelsea, to the sword and manager Mauricio Pochettino will be looking for his first team charges to solidify our third place in the top-flight table with another victory in this one.

Arsenal are unbeaten in the last five from a quick search, but that only includes two wins so form is in our favour and we have to make the most of it.

Unless I’m missing something blindingly obvious, the only doubts and those ruled out continue to be Victor Wanyama, Kieran Trippier, Davinson Sanchez, Mousa Dembele and often forgotten Vincent Jansson so it’s as we were with Juan Foyth coming back into Poch’s thoughts.

It may sound strange with Arsenal comfortably in fifth place (so it feels like no real change for them) but I do wonder if there will be chants of ‘Where’s Your Wenger Gone’ given they were supposed to reinvent the Premier League table once the Frenchman departed?

I disagree that playing Foyth was a mistake. He has been playing really well and probably got the nod because he is quicker than Toby and Jan. Vertonghen was rusty and the one I’d say maybe shouldn’t have played ahead of Toby. Maybe Toby trained poorly this week, or who knows, we certainly don’t. Sanchez would have been useful in this one, I miss our Columbian ledley. As BS says the performance of Aurier was a bigger concern, he was all over the place. Ben Davies aswell was like a headless chicken. And if our full backs played shite maybe it’s a tactical issue, that our wide players didn’t get the support from the rest of the team. But anyway my original point is that Foyth played for a reason, and even if it didn’t result in 3 points I want a manager that plays young players when they deserve to play. If Poch didn’t do this maybe harry Kane would have left for the championship. Foyth at 20 looks like he will be a top defender within 2 years and then he will have ten years at the top. Foyth and Sanchez could be the foundation of our team as time passes and Jan and Toby age out. Foyth has made some tackles and clearances recently that are truly world class, and could be our best defender eventually, he has definitely got the talent. Pochettino may have lost a tactical battle but anyone that expects their manager to win the tactical battle every match is unrealistic and disrespectful of the other managers

“Left-back Ben Davies was jittery from the moment he lost the ball to Henrikh Mkhitaryan inside a minute, while Serge Aurier was at fault in the build-up to Arsenal’s opening goal and endured a torrid afternoon.

The pair spent the majority of the game pegged back in their own half against Arsenal’s fevered onslaught and they completed just three crosses from open play between them, with only one — by Davies — classed as dangerous by Premier League statisticians Opta.

Aurier finished with a measly pass accuracy of under 70 per cent and lost possession 19 times. Davies, who did not make a single tackle before being hooked for Danny Rose for the final eight minutes, lost the ball 11 times.

Rose’s fleeting appearance after nearly two months out with a groin problem was a reminder of better times for Tottenham. In 2015-16 and the following season, Spurs’s biggest weapon was not Harry Kane nor Dele Alli, but full-backs Rose and Kyle Walker, who terrified opponents with their directness and pace.

Davies is a solid but unspectacular defender who, after four years at Spurs, will never match a fully-fit Rose for thrust and guile and too often looks overawed faced with pace and pressing — both of which Arsenal had in abundance. Aurier has shown flashes of quality but has more often been a liability than an asset since joining Spurs from Paris St Germain last year.

In Trippier, Spurs have one of the best crossers of the ball in the country, but inconsistent performances in the biggest games this season have already removed some of the gloss from his showing at the World Cup with England, while Rose’s club future remains uncertain.”

In my opinion, we have never replaced Kyle Walker’s contributions for this team, with both Aurier and Trippier being better in certain specific areas, worse in others, but both failing to match Walker’s performance levels overall. As for Rose, the article clearly explains why I think he’s a superior option to Davies.

Good read. I do feel Rose is past his best though. He has been way off form for 18 months now. He clearly has mental health issues and his body is struggling to cope with the intensity of being a wing back in our system.

Jod, how dare you tell posters they are talking drivel when they express an opinion contrary to yours. The beauty of this site is that there are a wide range of opinions freely expressed, many of which may criticise your idol Daniel Levy, and rightly so. If you think the club are investing all they earn, on the pitch, you are entitled to that view, just as we that consider this is not the case are entitled to ours, so could you display better manners and cease addressing posters as though they are idiots.

I thought Foyth had a pretty good game I thought Jan was the one who should have been on the bench Jan has only played one full game in the last month or so and did not look fully fit. Both fullbacks were poor and Hugo was slow to react to 2 of the goals.

Whether it was substitutions or changing the team shape, Poch was definitely too late in his changes. We could have gone back 3 and pushed the wing backs right up the pitch. The team was disconnected and the midfield was just as culpable as the fullbacks for the lack of protection and passing options provided to said fullbacks. Anyways, onwards and upwards